Postludium
by Milky Matchas
Summary: What he witnessed that day, was a lonely boy, singing a lonely song, playing at a lonely piano - Yullen Music AU
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own D. Gray-Man**

 _~~~Postludium~~~_

Kanda knew, better than anyone, that the Black Order Academy was one of the most prestigious institutes in the world. Well, it was _supposed_ to be an institute for talented, high-achieving young men and women. With multiple areas of expertise, the school drew in many students who were the best of the best. The state-of-the-art facilities, advanced technology, large funds and a secure future in place, Black Order Academy appealed to many.

 _Supposedly_

In his opinion, almost everyone in BOA was mediocre (except for himself of course). Their musicians were horrible composers, their athletes could never reach the national, much less worldwide level and their mathematicians were boring.

How did he know all this? Well, for one thing, he was the student council president. Being the president, he had noticed what seemed like the stagnation of the Order. Although the quality of their students remained at around the same level, everything was just so, _very,_ boring. What this school needed was a person with talent and creativity, genius on the level of Mozart, rule breaking on the level of Debussy!

But of course, such a person was hard to find. After seeing all the facets of the Order, Kanda had come to believe that he would never meet anyone like this during his stay.

So then, if you will, why of _why_ was he now standing behind a door, listening to someone playing piano in one of the concert halls?

 _~~~Postludium~~~_

When Kanda stepped into the concert hall, he immediately knew that he stepped in on something he shouldn't have. Even though he was not one to snoop, he just couldn't help himself. The enchanting music that had wafted through the still-empty corridors had tantalized his ears, it had piqued his curiosity, _it was interesting._

When he opened the door, he saw what he initially thought was an old man. But, and that was one big but, said 'old man' was singing in a voice that definitely _did not_ belong to an old man.

The voice was pure bliss, high for a male but definitely light and beautiful, the notes dancing in the tenor-alto range, a prayer for the heavens. But, why did it sound so hollow?

 _Something was missing._

There was an emotion in that voice that could he could not recognize just yet, but as he listened to the song (surprisingly being sung in his native language), he realized what it was.

 _Loneliness_

What he witnessed that day, was a lonely boy, singing a lonely song, playing at the lonely piano, all alone.

And that, was the first time he met Allen Walker.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own D. Gray-Man**

 **For the words with asterisks (*) after them, they're music vocab that some people may not necessarily know. If you are one of those people who don't, please refer to the footnotes at the bottom~**

 **This chapter is below par though, I can't write it the way I want TwT**

 _ **/sobs**_

 _ **~~~Postludium~~~**_

 _Prelude and Fugue in B flat major_

 _Consolation No. 3_

Kanda snorted to himself. This was the second time that he saw the boy with the white hair. _Allen Walker,_ he reminds himself, silently judging the white haired boy's performance. It was only during his sifting through of the various school documents that he found Allen's student profile.

 _Name: Allen Walker_

 _Specialty: Keyboard instruments_

 _Relatives: Cross Marian (Godfather)_

Kanda closed his eyes, reminding himself of the purpose of the performance. It was the same every year, all the sophomores, juniors and seniors of the music department would watch as each of the new freshmen tried their best to impress them. Kanda looked at the amount of new students in disdain, their numbers would be halved by the next year and so on until only a handful of them would be left. Those who would survive would be the top of the top of the music world though, the best of the best.

 _And I'm one of them_

Kanda thought, smirking. It wasn't news to anyone, even the freshmen that Yuu Kanda was a world-class violinist, making his debut when he was 14 with 16-year-old Alma Karma. At the thought of Alma, Kanda's smirk disappeared.

Alma who had been his first love, Alma who had taken his first kiss and many other firsts, _Alma who died_

But, Kanda had moved on and now here he was, with another five seniors, listening to the desperate freshmen.

And why were they desperate?

Well, the reason was simple. This would be their debut in the professional music world, along with one of the upperclassmen. In front of all the upperclassmen, they would play several pieces of their choice on their respective instruments, hoping to whatever god they believed in that one of the upperclassmen would chose them to apprentice them.

Well, apprentice was really a big umbrella term for showing them the ropes, guide them and perform with them as a summative task for their end of term report card that accounted for a big chunk of their marks that would ultimately determine whether they move on to the next year or not.

Simple

Easy-peasy lemon squeezy

 _Not_

Kanda listened to one bland song after the next. Each year, this would happen and Kanda was bored. He never chose the person he partnered up with, it was beneath him really. He would listen out of politeness and good role modeling (he was the student council president, he had images to keep up!) and then just leave it up to fate to decide which unlucky brat would share the same stage as him.

It was like that for the past two years, a comforting routine in a way, but when Allen Walker stepped onto the stage, Kanda knew that this routine would be broken.

* * *

With a curt bow to the audience, Allen approached the piano. There were a few whispered murmurs in the audience, none of them recognizing Allen. It didn't help that Allen also had quite an unusual appearance.

He was, of course, an albino.

An albino with a jagged, red scar running down the left side of his face

Unlike the other performers before him, Allen didn't seem to be nervous. Kanda would have thought him cocky at first if it weren't for the glimpse of slightly trembling, gloved hands.

 _Is he going to play with gloves on?_

Kanda didn't have more time to think as Allen struck the first note, beginning with Johann Sebastian Bach's _Prelude and Fugue in B flat major_ , the rapid toccata-like chords, reverberating throughout the room in a light and airy dance. This wasn't a particularly hard piece compared to the ones the other freshmen played. Unlike the massive phrases of Rachmaninoff's piano concerti or the heightened dynamics of Beethoven, Allen Walker had chosen _Bach_ of all things to play to impress the upperclassmen.

But, Kanda had to admit, Allen Walker played his Bach pretty damn well. Each note clear and smooth, the running passages of notes flowing into each other, the prelude* was finished all too quickly for his liking. Then, the fugue* came.

This was the big fish.

This was a technical masterpiece.

The innocent start of the fugue in one hand, then the second hand joining in, each melodic line flowing like a singer's. It was as if each melody had its own voice, each one talking and communicating with the other, the dissonance, an argument, the harmony, an agreement. Kanda felt his heart pound. Even if Allen's piece wasn't as challenging, it was played _superbly._ Even though he, himself was a pianist, he could tell potential when he saw it.

It was almost as if…

Allen Walker was teasing them. Them, as in the whole audience.

Kanda was almost 100 percent sure that Allen could play something more difficult and challenging but had just _chosen_ to play a simpler piece.

It was as if…

Allen Walker was goading them on; daring them to chose him as their partner to see his true potential.

The song changed to Liszt's _Consolation No. 3._ After the bright ending of the fugue, the starting note was soft and tentative. Whereas the prelude and fugue showed off Allen's technical ability and virtuosity, the _Consolation_ showed off Allen's dynamic* range and his timing*.

 _He has a well-balanced program,_ Kanda thought to himself, reveling in the relaxing piece. The music flowed from Allen's gloved fingertips, producing an almost airy texture in some places and a firm, deep grip on the piano in others. When he brought the piece to a gentle close, no one even clapped; they had all been electrified by his performance (except for Kanda of course, Kanda never clapped for anyone).

After Allen's performance, each of the subsequent ones seemed dull. He could tell others felt like that as well, fidgeting in their seats with restlessness. Even so, Kanda just _knew_ that the other upperclassmen wouldn't choose Allen because of his appearance and the ambiguity surrounding his background. They would go with one of the underclassmen they knew and were comfortable around. Kanda shook his head to himself in disgust, such a waste of talent.

" _Please fill out your sheets with your selected underclassman,"_ came Komui Lee's voice, echoing throughout the hall. Kanda was snapped out of his reverie. Smiling to himself (in his head of course), he wrote down only one name.

 _Allen Walker_

* * *

 **A/N: And I'm done! Sorry for the wait, I've been writing down other ideas and I just wasn't sure how to write this chapter. I had like, an image in my head but I didn't know how to execute it in written form.**

 **I rewrote this chapter like 5 times already TwT**

 **I suggest you listen to the pieces mentioned in the chapter if you're in to classical music. The** _ **Prelude and Fugue in B flat major**_ **that is being referred to is from book 1 of the** _ **Well-Tempered Clavier.**_

 **Glossary:**

 _ **Prelude:**_ **A prelude is a short, improvisatory piece that's usually followed by a fugue. Bach was known for his preludes and fugues, writing one in each major and minor key** _ **twice.**_ **Aka, the Well-Tempered Clavier.**

 _ **Fugue:**_ **A complex, technically challenging piece. Its melody is carried out by 'voices' that are, in a nutshell, separate melody lines. Fugues also have something called a 'subject', which is repeated (either in different keys or altered) throughout the fugue. The problem with fugues is bringing out the subject from all of the different voices and balancing the voices so that they don't overpower the others or the subject. Fugues are a pain in the ass to learn but are pretty fun in general.**

 _ **Dynamics:**_ **The loudness and softness. You may have heard the terms** _ **forte**_ **or** _ **piano.**_ **They are the Italian words for loud and soft.**

 _ **Timing:**_ **So, when you learn an instrument, your teacher tells you to 'count' to keep yourself in time so that you don't speed up or slow down or just cause your music to sound like dog crap. Some people don't count, some people do, and it's just a way to regulate the beat. In** _ **Consolation No. 3,**_ **the piece has a complex rhythm (if you've seen or played it, you'll know what I mean), it sounds spectacular but timing is no.**

 **And thank you for the reviews~!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AHAHA DID YOU GUYS THINK I WAS DEAD? FEAR NOT! FOR I HAVE RISEN FROM THE HELL KNOWN AS MUSIC THEORY AND HAVE COME TO BLESS YOU ALL WITH MY CRAPPY FANFICTION WRITING ABILITIES**

 **Welp, music history exams are (finally!) over and I finally got my lazy ass up to do a thing.**

 **-I don't own D. Gray-Man unfortunately : (**

* * *

Allen's first encounter with Kanda Yuu started with barely making it to the school's cafeteria. He groaned as he finally got there. He was _starving._

Quite literally actually because he hadn't eaten breakfast and had an _extremely_ fast metabolism along with a harsh exercise regimen

He had been held up with the infamous lunchtime rush that always happened on this day every year. He had heard whispers of it when all of the student body was notified that they were to be given one hour starting at 12:00 pm to head to the cafeteria and work out schedules and chose partners to work with. The whole choosing partners part didn't apply to Allen though as he had already received information that only one student had requested to partner up.

 _Yuu Kanda_

Well, this _Yuu_ could wait, what Allen needed right now was food. So, after he gathered his usual mound of food, Allen walked towards the table labeled with _Allen Walker_ on it in fancy lettering. Only when he got closer did he see that someone else was already there.

"Oi. Moyashi, you're late," said the black-haired youth sitting at the table. Allen frowned, the last time he checked, he was the only one in the BOA music department that had the name Allen Walker unless…

Oh _hell_ no

This could _not_ be the person he would be working with for the next who-knows-how-many months. Still reeling, Allen was pulled out of his sudden realization when the person spoke again, "aren't you gonna sit down?"

Allen nodded numbly, too many possibilities whirling through his head. Sitting down mechanically, he asked, "I presume that you're Yuu?"

The man growled, looking irritably at Allen (Allen had decided that the person was a man, judging by the strong jaw line and flat chest).

"Don't call me that."

Allen was _really_ starting to get annoyed. Quirking a snowy brow he asked in a sickly sweet voice,

"Oh? Then what am I to call you?"

"Che." Allen was pretty sure that 'che' wasn't part of the English language.

"Hi 'che', I'm Allen." The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them. Allen was mentally smacking himself.

 _Really Allen, really? Now is not the time to be making dad jokes!_

The man growled out,

" _Kanda, call me Kanda and nothing else you fucking moyashi._ "

Allen was about to retort when an orange ball of _something_ came flying towards his table.

"Hey Yuu!" the orange ball chirped and upon closer inspection, was not a ball, but a human.

" _Don't call me that._ " At this point Kanda looked absolutely murderous.

"I thought you requested Lenalee," Kanda said flatly, looking the orange-haired male in the eye. He gulped.

"Well, uh, you see Yu-Kanda, uh…" he said before pointing in the direction behind Allen. Allen twisted around in his seat to just catch a glimpse of various boys being chased away by one Komui Lee. It was common knowledge within the entire Academy that their principal was a massive sis-con and anyone who dared approach his 'darling baby sister' would be…'dealt with' immediately. Allen silently looked on, as Komui seemed to be chasing away a crowd from Lenalee Lee's table with what looked to be several tasers. He felt sorry for the guys.

Still watching with sharp eyes, science department head Reever Wenhamm dragged Komui away and into the depths of the Black Order to finish paperwork. Sighing to himself, Allen turned around and was about to continue his attempt at socializing with Kanda until he was interrupted _yet again,_ only this time by one Lenalee Lee.

"Lavi, I know you didn't request Allen," Lenalee said. Allen recognized Lenalee from one of his theory courses. Lenalee continued, "and I know that you were just waiting for nii-san to leave."

Lavi's eye widened in mock hurt

"What are you insinuating!? Do you honestly think that lowly of me?" Lenalee sighed and then walked away, dragging Lavi along with her. She smiled apologetically, "sorry Allen," she said.

Allen could only nod as Lenalee immediately went into 'mom' mode and started scolding Lavi for bothering Kanda and himself. Allen cleared his throat, "so…"

Kanda arched an elegant brow, "so what?"

"Aren't we supposed to discuss what we're going to do?"

"Che." _God what did that even mean?_

Usually Allen was very good at this, charming others and just being good at starting conversations in general.

But not with Kanda

"Well, let's start with the program, shall we?" Allen's eye was twitching by this point. It was just _so fucking awkward_. In his peripheral vision, he could see others speaking normally with their respective partners. Why couldn't he have a partner like that? Why did he always get stuck with the weird ones?

"Let's see…we need two solo pieces – one for each of us – and three pieces where we play together," Allen rattled off what he knew.

"What would you like to play for the pieces with piano accompaniment? I think that a sonata would be best and then another piece of your choice"

"No sonatas," Kanda replied sharply. Allen groaned, why did his partner have to be so goddamned difficult?

" _Why?"_ Allen grit out. The nerve of him! He wasn't even suggesting ideas and he thought he had the right to veto what Allen suggested!

"They're boring," Oh _of course._ What _amazing_ logic. Sonatas were fucking _boring._

"Then what would you _like_ to play your majesty?" Allen mocked. Kanda's eyes narrowed.

"Something that's not a sonata.'" Oh just _brilliant._ Allen waited for Kanda to go on, silently urging him with his nonexistent telepathic powers. It seemed that Kanda got the message.

"Something fast."

Well fuck.

"The only fast ones I can think of that include a piano in them are all 'Introduction' and whatever," Allen said.

"Are you sure you don't want to play a sonata?" Allen asked hopefully.

"Of course I'm sure," Kanda scoffed.

"Uh…what about uh…" Allen was searching his brain for something that Kanda might enjoy. "Tartini's Devil's Trill sonata?"

Allen knew he hit jackpot when he saw something light up behind Kanda's eyes but the light was gone as quickly as it came.

"Fine."

* * *

 _Two months later_

After that fateful first meeting, they had decided on pieces over the next few days, usually meeting in practice rooms after dinner (mostly because everyone booked the practice rooms for after class and Kanda didn't want to deal with the amateurish musicians that would undoubtedly clog the hallways and be incredibly off key). Surprisingly, Kanda agreed to play a 'retarded song' as he would call it. Allen smiled to himself whenever Kanda said that, knowing that Kanda loved music too much to call it retarded and had not meant retarded in the way that it would be synonymous with 'idiot' or 'stupid', but the way in which it would be synonymous with 'slow'.

So, now here they were, preparing for their concert at…

"Oi, Bakanda, where're we performing again?" Allen asked Kanda. Kanda's eyes flew open, annoyance radiating off of his body at being interrupted in the middle of warming up as Allen snickered in his head, amused at the reaction he got. Damn, annoying Kanda would never get old.

"Carnegie Hall, Roy Thompson Hall and the Vienna State Opera," Kanda replied, not even bothering to make a jab at Allen's forgetfulness, instead, opting to return to warming up and tuning any string that was even so much as a quarter of a semitone off key.

Allen sighed as the elder continued to ignore him. Maybe he should begin warming up for the day; after all, they were leaving the very next day to begin their week of performing. With another sigh, Allen turned to the piano, the sight of the ivory and ebony keys welcoming him, quelling the soon-to-be butterflies in his stomach.

* * *

 **Hi ho! If you've looked at my profile, you'll know that I'm a music student as such; I need to take mandatory theory courses to get my diploma in certain grades. Theory courses really suck because they teach you a load of shit that includes composition and the history of music. Some of it is useful, the majority isn't because most of us musicians don't compose, only perform and during performances, knowing that Bach angered the Duke of Weimar for accepting a salary advance in Cothen isn't really necessary so to me, it's a load of bull.**

 **Anyways, between practicing for practical examinations, school and theory I just feel really lazy (no excuses for me) but luckily I only need my History II and I'll be good to go for my Grade 10 piano diploma! Yayz**

 **I also am terrible with regular updates if you haven't noticed by now and I'm spending time writing down other ideas that will hopefully be uploaded onto ffn soon.**

 **Ciao!**


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